Laboratory

The critical micelle concentration is the minimum concentration at which the emulsifiers in a detergent will coalesce in to membrane structures of globes, rods or sheets with their hydrophobic (water hating) ends on the inside of the membrane and their hydrophilic (water loving) ends on the outside such that hydrophobic oily residues can be emulsified inside these membrane structures.  Micelles are further elaborated on below.  If you are below the critical micelle concentration, you do not have effective emulsifying of oily residues.

Q: We’ve switched from base and acid baths to a Citranox solution for cleaning glassware used to distill H2S from marine sediments using Cr2 , concentrated HCl, and AgNO3. It seems to do a good job on most of the apparatus but we still see grayish deposits on the glass frits. Any suggestions?

A: The detail is appreciated.  Whenever there is a “mystery” residue, whether it be on glass frits or any hard surface….

Q: We are a mid-sized medical device company and are looking at reviewing and optimizing our supply chain.  Our goal is to move towards a culture of risk mitigation of our raw materials.  As a consumer of your detergents, what is Alconox Inc. doing to ensure consistent supply chain?

A: Thank you for the question as it is both important, and certainly an area of deserved focus and scrutiny from regulatory bodies.  Ensuring a continuous supply of drug, medical device or laboratory products requires a dependable supply of raw materials….

Q: We are using Detonox detergent in our ultrasonic baths and are loving it.  We use a visual inspection method (cloudiness of solution) to determine when to change the bath and are moving to conductivity and pH. It appears pH stays constant regardless of concentration?

A: As a broad statement, detergent concentration does very little to affect pH due to buffers, as well as salts, micelles, and other constituents.  A pH meter wouldn’t be used to control for concentration on anything but very gross scales.  

Q: Can Alconox Inc. recommend how to effectively remove stubborn permanent marker from glassware and other labware without solvents like alcohol?

A: As everyone who has worked in a lab and similar facilities knows, marking beakers, vessels, and other reusable labware is part of everyday life. As is reusing them. With a move away from hazardous solvents like acetone, as well as regulated and in-demand alcohol, cleaning them with aqueous detergents becomes very desirable. We’ve had the most success at removing permanent marker….